SAUGERTIES >> Police gave warning tickets to 60 drivers who failed to yield the right of way to a pedestrian in a crosswalk during a recent “decoy operation,” Police Chief Joseph Sinagra said.

Sinagra told Village Board members Monday that the operation took place at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Main Street. He said an officer wearing bright, plain clothes walked back and forth between the diner and senior center over a five-hour period to see if drivers would yield the right of way to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, as required by state law.

“And in that five-hour period we stopped 60 vehicles for failure to yield the right of way to a pedestrian,” Sinagra said. He said the drivers were given warning tickets, which do not involve any fines or points on their licenses. The warnings were mean to educate the drivers, Sinagra said.

Sinagra added, however, that his officers will begin handing out traffic summons in November or December following a period of educational outreach to motorists.

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Another pedestrian decoy operation will occur in the village within the next seven days, he said.

The chief said the pedestrian decoy operation is a new program in New York state, but it has been used extensively in New Jersey. He said the operation does not involve his officers stepping out into the crosswalk without giving motorists enough time to react, but instead uses a “safety zone.”

“There’s a safety zone that’s established where a driver should be able to acknowledge that somebody’s in the crosswalk and have reaction time to slow down, yield and stop for that pedestrian,” Sinagra said. He said in the recent operation, which took place Friday, a 30-foot safety zone was established because the speed limit in that area is 30 mph. A cone was placed 30 feet away from the intersection and the decoy pedestrian stepped into the roadway before an oncoming vehicle passed that marker, Sinagra said. (Editor’s note: On 08-20-14, Sinagra said that he had misspoken during the Monday meeting and that the safety zone used during the decoy operation actually was 75 feet.)

“We’re not tricking anybody,” Sinagra said. “There’s no entrapment.”

Besides educating drivers, his officers are also educating pedestrians about their rights and responsibilities when crossing the roadway.

The police department began a pedestrian safety campaign earlier this year after a number of vehicle-pedestrian accidents in the town and village of Saugerties. There were 12 such accidents in 2013, two of which were fatal. There was also a fatal truck-pedestrian accident in January in the village.